The Last Sandstorm
by FineAsDandelions
Summary: Tenzin has a surprise for Lin, but things don't go as planned.


"I can see where we're going, you know," she reminded him as she let him pull her along by the hand. He had blindfolded her, but she could feel her surroundings through the soles of her feet. She had spent entire weeks of her childhood blindfolded as she learned to see through her earthbending.

"I know, Lin. Just… humor me, will you?" She felt his smile in her toes and it echoed off of his lips into her ears, sharpened by her lack of sight. She grinned in return.

"Fair enough." Fingers laced, they made their way down the hill towards the water's edge. The sun felt good against her skin; she had left her armor at home, knowing she was off duty. The distinct smell of lilies filled the air by the tiny beach where they used to play as children. The perfume, mingled with seawater and Tenzin's distinct scent, brought back powerful nostalgia of days spent splashing in the water with Tenzin and his siblings, of first kisses and candlelit twilight picnics, of walks beneath the ocean in bubbles of air. Even if she couldn't see the landscape with her feet, she would have known the place on smell alone.

At the shoreline, he gently seated her on the large boulder and removed her blindfold. She snagged him by the beard and pulled him into a kiss. His lips were soft and subtle like air, and hers, earthy and aroused by scents and memories, moved with an eager forcefulness. They mingled like a sandstorm against each other, happy, swept up and swirling, engulfed both in the moment of this kiss and the residue of kisses past that smelled and tasted just like it. It had been weeks since the last time their mouths felt this intensity in each other. Finally, he pulled away and cleared his throat.

"Ahem. Ah…" he stammered, flushed pale pink as he tried to remember his words. "Ah… Lin, you're probably wondering why I brought you here to today."

She raised an eyebrow and smirked. "So formal, Tenzin." She'd always found his formalities amusing. From trying to organize truces between his rowdy siblings to his stiff speeches at the city hall, she had never been able to suppress the smirk that came with knowing no matter how much order he tried to bring to his endeavors, nothing but earth was ever stable in life.

"Yes. Ah… well, as you know, we have spent some of our best days together here. And I regret to say that lately — especially in the past year or so — we haven't spent nearly enough time together. But I want to solve all of that."

"I know, Tenzin. Since my mother's retirement and your father's passing… well, it's just been very stressful for both of us. We have more responsibilities now to our city and our families. But it is nice to have a day off for just us. What have you planned for us today?"

"We shouldn't just have today, Lin. I want to spend all of my days with you. Lifetimes." He reached into the pocket inside his tunic and pulled out a choker necklace. It was carefully detailed and obviously handmade, lacking the smooth, polished look of the machine-made jewelry that had become so popular in recent years. The band was brown with green diamonds stitched in with orange thread. The pendant was a perfectly round green symbol of the Earth Kingdom, with tiny Air Nation swirls carved inside of it. Her eyes widened, entranced by the beauty of the choker. She slid forward off of the boulder to kneel beside him.

"We could be a family, Lin. You and your mother could move to the Island to live with me here. We could have all the time in the world together. We could finally have children!" He smiled widely and eagerly at her, picturing perfect little airbenders with brilliant green eyes that could see with their feet. She saw it too, a brief flash in her mind's eye. She allowed herself a tight grin. "I would take care of you, Lin."

She sighed through her nose, careful not to seem too upset. But his last sentence was the problem in all of this.

"Oh, Tenzin. Always so formal." She shook her head at him. "This is beautiful. Truly. I appreciate the gesture. You know I love you. But you also know better than to try to propose to me. I can't accept this."

His smile fell slowly from his face, dropping from his newly formed wrinkles. He stared down at the necklace lying across his outstretched palms. Years, he had been dying to marry his headstrong girlfriend. He knew her aversion to settling down. Like her mother, marriage had never been part of the plan. She'd never wanted anything to do with taking names if they weren't criminal's names on paper, never desired the life of a wife and mother. He knew she wasn't opposed to children, but he couldn't bring himself to father children out of wedlock; his mother would surely be disappointed. He had hoped that all the new responsibilities of their careers would change her mind about settling down. He had to marry someone, someday. It was on his shoulders if the Air Nation died out forever. His temper, as he realized how selfish she was being, started to peek out from beneath his normally calm exposure.

"Lin… we're thirty-five years old! We've waited long enough! Don't you think it's time to just settle down already?" he urged, trying not to let his anger show. It didn't work. She could feel the vibrations of his temper. She narrowed his eyes at him.

"You know very well that what you have proposed is ridiculous. I am the chief of police. I can't possibly leave the city and live with you here, and if you think I'm going to drag my poor mother out here where she can't see anything beyond the shoreline, you are crazy!"

"Then I'll move into the city!" he insisted.

"Bah, like that will happen. You're too sentimental of your childhood home to ever leave it, not to mention that you are the only real bender in the Air community. You'd go back after two days," she scoffed. He had no defense; she knew him well. "AND, where the hell do you get off saying you'll take care of ME? Tenzin, you know full and well that I take care of myself. This little fantasy of yours, of convincing me to become your little homemaker child-bearing wife, is just that — a fantasy!"

"What do you expect from me, Lin?" he cried in frustration. He stood up, necklace still gripped tightly in his left hand, and towered over her. She didn't like the way he loomed over her, shadowing her face, as if making himself seem larger would cause her to back down.

"To respect my life as my own to live, not yours." She said it with the calm of a storm in her voice. Gently, she slid the ground beneath his feet a fraction of an inch. He teetered.

"Dammit, Lin!"

She stood as well. "Tenzin, we have very different goals in life. I love you, but I will not change for you. We will have to make a compromise, or else this relationship has nowhere else to go."

He looked at her with desperation in his eyes. "Please. Just marry me. The rest we can figure out as we go."

She sighed. "You know I can't do that."

"Well then what?"

"I guess…. I guess this is where we say our goodbyes, then." She reached out her arms. He just gazed at her for a moment. His body seemed to melt as he entered her embrace. All strength gone from them both, they said their silent goodbyes. He pressed the necklace into her hand. She tugged at his beard until he bent forward, then lightly kissed the top of his bald head.

It was the last embrace they shared for many years.


End file.
